The following is a press release that comes to us from the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Major League Baseball.
Reds Acquire Marlon Byrd From Phillies
Send Minor League RHP Ben Lively To Philly
CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Reds President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty has announced the acquisition of OF Marlon Byrd and cash from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for minor league RHP Ben Lively.
“Marlon will give us power and run production, and he can play left field,” Jocketty said. “We expect him to provide a big bat and balance in the middle of our lineup.”
Byrd, 37, in a career-high 154 appearances last season hit .264 with 28 doubles, a career-best 25 HR and 85 RBI. He led the Phillies in HR, extra-base hits (55) and total bases (263) while ranking second among all National League right fielders in HR and RBI.
A National League All-Star in 2010, Byrd has averaged 15 homers and 71 RBI over a 13-year Major League career with the Phillies, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. He has 845 career appearances in center field, 398 appearances in right field and 144 appearances in left field. Byrd spent most of the last 2 seasons playing right field for the Mets and Phillies.
Lively, 22, was named the Reds’ Minor League Player of the Year for 2014 after going 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA in a combined 26 starts between single-A Bakersfield and double-A Pensacola. A mid-season California League All-Star, he collected 171 strikeouts in 151.0 innings pitched and held opposing hitters to a .215 batting average. Lively’s strikeout total was tied for second-most among all minor league pitchers. As a hitter, he batted .294 (5-17) with one double, one home run and two RBI in 10 games.
At the beginning of the 2014 season, Lively was ranked as the ninth-best prospect in the Reds’ minor league system by Baseball America after being selected by the team in the fourth round of the June 2013 draft out of the University of Central Florida.
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